I spoke with The Sydney Morning Herald about the urgent need for rental reform. Young people know that apartments built in three to five years won’t do anything for them, and are having to make difficult decisions like whether to live further out or cut spending on basic needs. Existing bans on “excessive” rent increases haven’t stopped rents skyrocketing because they are too vague and require tenants to take action in the tribunal and prove it is excessive in the tribunal.

I continue to push for better legislative guidance on what is considered excessive with the onus of proof on the landlord, like the ACT model which requires landlords to prove that any increase above the CPI for rent is not excessive. We also urgently need to end no-grounds evictions so that landlords can’t evict a tenant for challenging a rent rise or asking for maintenance by pretending there were “no reasons” for the eviction.  

We’re still waiting to see the promised government bill. The Herald report > HERE.